Anymore, various stories about the Cardinals and their players come across my inbox faster than I can react to them (for the most part) but I often feel many are worth sharing. I thought maybe a weekly (or as-dictated by worthy items to report) catch-all post would be the most efficient way to both communicate things I find interesting yet keep from blasting out short, maybe not useful posts every day. Not married to the idea, let me know if you find it useful.
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Branch Rickey in 1914 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jim Dolan e-mailed about an upcoming play at The Gaslight Theater in St. Louis about Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson. The details, from Mr. Dolan:
Ralph Kalish in
Winning History – The Branch Rickey StoryNothing was going to stop Branch Rickey from putting the best players on the field. Not the host of powerful people and influential institutions lined up against him. Not organized baseball. Nothing.
Rickey was the the general manager of both the St. Louis Cardinals (he also played for the St. Louis Browns and lived in St. Louis for many years) and the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1945, he signed Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play major league baseball. To hear Red Smith tell it, Rickey was
“…a God-fearing, checkers-playing, horse-trading, cigar-smoking, doubletalking, nonalchoholic, sharp-shooting blend of eloquence and unction and sincerity and enterprise and imagination and energy and independence and profundity and guile.”
The kind of guy you can make a play out of.
Written and performed by Ralph Kalish, and directed by Bobby Miller, Winning History shows how one man wrote baseball’s story in the mid-20th century. He forever changed the game, and helped to change the course of our society. In St. Louis, where we learn baseball at about the same time we learn what red and yellow are, the drama of Rickey’s life resonates.
Written by Ralph Kalish
Directed by Bobby Miller
Produced by Jim DolanFebruary 15, 16, 17 & 22, 23, 24
Fridays and Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 7pm
The Gaslight Theater, 360 North Boyle Ave, 63108
Tickets $30
Go to www.LicketyTix.com
or call 314-725-4200 EXT 10
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That crazy bunch of United Cardinal Bloggers has released another Annual, and this time it’s available for purchase on Amazon for $4.99.
The 2013 United Cardinal Bloggers Annual: An Unexpected Journey is a compilation of works from various writers across the UCB sites, and we’re really proud of it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please give thought to purchasing and reading.
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You may have read our review of Out of the Park Baseball 13 last week, and if you liked what you read and are interested in purchasing the next iteration of the game, the OOTP Developments team is currently discounting their next iteration of the game, OOTP 14. There are also giveaways associated with pre-ordering:
Through Feb. 15, everyone who pre-orders OOTP 14 will save $5 ($34.99) and will be entered in a drawing to win a 64GB iPod touch or one of three $100 Amazon gift cards. They’ll also get the game 3 days before its release in April. After Feb. 15, the price goes up to $39.99 and we’ll give away the prizes, but anyone who pre-orders will still get the game 3 days early.
If you want to read all about the new version of the game and the features contained therein, please read this from the OOTP team.
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Cardinal pitcher Mitchell Boggs is giving back in a big way in his hometown of Dalton, GA. Boggs and wife Lele have committed to become “Pioneer” members of the Dalton State Athletic Club, helping to support a rebirth of several sports (including, you guessed it, baseball) at the college. I’m a sucker for stories like this, the hometown boy done good, giving back. Makes me feel like I should do more. From Dalton State’s website:
Boggs says he is excited to be a part of the Dalton State athletic program. “Dalton has been great to me in so many ways,” he said. “I am excited to give back in one of the endeavors I think will really help the vibrancy of the local college and community.”
“I am really excited about what the athletic department at Dalton State can do for local athletes and for the future of Dalton, and I am more than happy to lend my support to the department,” he continued. “I am very excited about the possibilities both from a local and national perspective.”
Congrats, and good on ya, Mitchell and Lele.
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The Cards signed Ronny Cedeno. Check the Post-Dispatch write-up by the Commish. Don’t really have much to add, other than consider me nonplussed.
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Finally, the Cardinals will break ground on Ballpark Village, in cooperation with developer Cordish, on February 8th. A project that has been a long time coming, the team and developer expect to complete construction in 2014. It’ll be incredible to have this area surrounding the stadium finally developed and further enhance the gameday experience. At least, that’s what we all hope.
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That’s it.
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